Struggle
by Snowy-kun
Summary: AU fic. Set after the Gaara retrieval arc. Naruto chases after the strength to protect his friends and destroy his enemies. What will happen when Kyuubi decides to slowly try and take over?


Hey everybody! This is my new attempt at a fanfiction, and it is set shortly after Gaara has been rescued from the Akatsuki.

The story is AU, meaning it branches off from after the whole Gaara/Akatsuki arc into my own plot. Hopefully it's interesting enough ay?

Please read and review!

Snowy

**Chapter 1: Foxes and Snakes **

_Gotta get away!_

She sprinted down the street of the Konoha's main market, panting harshly. Darkness surrounded her, the night obliterating whatever viable eyesight she had. Stumbling over a long forgotten watermelon, she landed on the hard gravel of the ground.

_Shit! Why is he doing this…_

A figure wrapped in dark cloak leapt from rooftop to rooftop, keeping tabs on his _prey_. Grinning sadistically, he let loose a few kunai to keep her on her toes. His slitted crimson eyes gleamed in the light of the moons' bask; giving him the aura of a demonic fox-human, complete with three whisker birthmarks and fangs.

He chuckled when his prey desperately ran into an alleyway, what a stupid manoeuvrer. Flipping his blonde bangs out of the way of his eyes, he dashed forward with frightening speed and caught up to the woman whom he had marked for death. Demonic energy fuelling his limbs, the girl never stood a chance. Plus, the pink hair made her a walking target dummy.

He slammed into her staggering back, sending her flying into the alley wall with a sickening crunch. Laughing gleefully and hoping some bones were broken, he slowly stepped up to the pink haired _konuichi_ and laughed.

**"Tch. Pathetic human. To think the kit took a liking to you all those years! Do you have any idea how sickening it was to watch him fawn over your pathetic being? Huh?" **he spat, disgust and contempt ripe in his face and voice alike. The voice was naruto's in a sense, but there was the underlying monotone of kyuubi apparent. It was gravelly and deep, ripe with the madness of a demon. Suddenly it changed, a gleefully sadistic look plastered over his already demonic features.

Sakura cowered and whimpered, her pursuer's aura grinding her into the wall. Gathering her strength and courage, she found her voice.

"Nar-Naruto.. Why are you doing this?? W-Why.."

"**Naruto? The kit? HAH! That weakling's spirit has been crushed! I am in control of this body now!.. This shitty human body.. Tch."**

"W-what? You're not naruto?.. O-of course…" came a soft reply. Despite her grave situation, Sakura couldn't help but feel relieved. It wasn't Naruto that was after her! That thought alone had her frightened beyond her wildest imagination. Then her mind took a massive u-turn. If this wasn't Naruto, but was his body, then it must be…

Sakura gasped. "Kyuubi…" _Oh shit. That demon fox. The nine-tailed demon fox. The one from the stories, from the legends. The fox that had been sealed inside Naruto 15 years ago by the Yondaime Hokage. I am royally __**screwed**__._

Kyuubi chuckled again, and stomped on Sakura's leg, effectively crushing it. The sound of bones being crushed filled the hair, accompanied by a blood hurdling scream. Sakura bit her lip, and bit back a curse. She pushed back her fear as best she could, and tried to gather chakra to her fist. She felt her chakra speed through her arm, contracting tightly into her clenched fist. _Theres no way I'm going down without a fight! Shannaro!_ Shouted inner-Sakura, brandishing her fist. Kyuubi grabbed her by the helm of her shirt and lifted her up to his eye level. He snarled, spraying Sakura's face with saliva infused with demonic energy. The saliva sizzled on Sakura's face, burning skin and cells off.

Sakura brushed off the burning pain without a second thought, and lashed out at the demonic face of Naruto with a chakra infused fist. Kyuubi smirked, the look totally out of place on Naruto's usually hyperactive features.

"**Pathetic."**

Sakura's fist slammed heavily into his face, resulting in Naruto's figure being pushed back a few meters. She fell to the ground, panting heavily. Her broken left leg gave her absolutely no way to escape. Pain coursed through her entire being, resulting in a sharp scream escaping her mouth.

Tears ran down her face, as she watched Kyuubi get up with the smirk still in place. That sickening cocky ass smirk.

_Naruto.. What has happened to you? Where have you gone…_ Sakura cried, as the adrenaline was overtaken by raw fear. She couldn't take her eyes off Naruto's form as he stalked towards her, chuckling darkly. She couldn't believe what was happening, she couldn't bel-

"**Die. Pathetic Human vixen." **spat Kyuubi. A claw of raw red bubbling chakra formed in around his arm, and he gave Sakura's frozen face one last look. Kyuubi had a murderous glint in his eyes. Kyuubi's infinite bloodlust screamed out, directed at Sakura. Years of hatred and bloodlust. The intent to kill escalating, he raised his demonic claw above his head.

He lunged.

Sakura's blood curdling scream filled the dark night sky.

* * *

Naruto yawned. Having just woken up, he groggily got out of bed and made his way to the kitchen. Fumbling around for some milk in his refrigerator, he found some milk and drank it all in one gulp. Not even noticing it was overdue, Naruto glanced at the time on his ramen shaped clock.

_9:00am huh? We were going to meet with Sakura-chan and Yamato-taicho at 10 at the Hokage's office.. for a mission!_

Rubbing his hair he quickly chugged down some instant ramen, yes chugged, and left his apartment. Slowly making his way across Konoha, he pulled a Sasuke and brooded. Yes, brooded. A few snapshots of last nights dream, or _nightmare_, still floated around in his consciousness. Sakura-chan's beautiful face filled with fear and desperation suddenly flashed through Naruto's mind, and he felt sick. Utterly sick. Naruto froze in the middle of the street, as he tried to put together what he could recall from the nightmare.

_A pink haired ____konuichi's fist slamming into his face.._

___Bones crunching… _

___Madness… his own sick twisted voice…_

"Arggh! Damn it! It's so blurry" said Naruto, albeit to himself. A few people looked at him curiously, but their faces went from curiosity to disgust as they realised it was the demon kid. They turned away, but Naruto could've sworn he heard a few 'crazy monster' and 'hope he dies' remarks. Now usually Naruto would walk on, head high. Fifteen years of dealing with the malicious comments from villagers had allowed him to build a heavy emotional mask, blocking out all of the villager's scorn. That's why he surprised even himself when he saw a vision of himself tearing the villager limb from limb and setting them on fire. What was worse was that he felt it was the right thing to do!

Gritting his teeth and pushing the ugly thoughts away, Naruto leapt with the agility of a well trained shinobi up onto a roof and roof hopped towards Ichiraku for some more delicious ramen. Ramen was the highlight of Naruto's life. Ramen was a symbol of happiness to him, without it he would probably sink into depression. Probably.

Unknown to the blonde shinobi, Kyuubi chuckled deep with his cage.

"Oi old man! Give me 5 miso ramen, 2 beef ramen and 1 volcano ramen stat!" grinned Naruto, jumping into his usual seat at the little ramen bar. He could feel his mouth already drooling at the prospect of all that delicious ramen!

"Hai hai Naruto! Been a while since you've come around to visit! We've missed your business!" greeted Teuchi haughtily. Naruto grinned his usual foxy grin, content. Teuchi and his daughter Ayame were the about the only two civilians who had ever treated him as more than just the bane of Konoha, they treated him like a human being. This struck home for Naruto, and he ended up coming here regularly. Also, the ramen was exquisite.

After about 7 ramen bowls, a voice interrupted his devouring of the heaven sent noodles. That voice was heavenly to his ears, sweet perfect tone. Naruto turned to see Sakura. Ahhh his beloved Sakura-chan! The girl he had always chased after, always pledged his love to. Although she had always rejected him, harshly at that, Naruto could still dream right? Greeting her with a mouthful of noodles and broth, Naruto hastily went back to his ramen bowl.

"Naruto! You're not going to grow much on ramen!" said Sakura disapprovingly, before poking him on the shoulder. "Have you forgotten we have a mission? In 20 minutes? You know what Tsunade-sensei will do to you if you're late!"

"Oh-Kay Sakura-chan! Lets walk there together! I'll even take you on a date later!" Naruto piped up, grinning his annoying foxy grin. Sakura giggled, and pulled him out of the ramen stand. "Oi Ossan! Put it on my tab!" shouted Naruto, before leaving hastily.

_Hehe Naruto.. Maybe I will let you take me on a date. You have grown up from the annoying kid you used to be, and developed quite nicely._ "Hai hai, we'll see about that after the mission." blushed Sakura, avoiding Naruto's eyes. Pulling him towards the Hokage tower, she barely realized they were holding hands.

Naruto couldn't believe his ears. "YATTA! A DATE!"

"BAKA! Shut up!" shouted Sakura, bonking him on the head.

* * *

Tsunade glared. She glared at the mountains of paperwork in front of her, glared with the ferocity that could scare experienced ANBU into quiet submission. The paperwork didn't budge. Being Hokage meant she was the most respected shinobi, or in this case konuichi, and she had many important responsibilities. These included things like keeping inter-village relationships alive, handling the council, protecting the village etc. However paperwork came along for the ride, which irritated her to another level. Protecting the village should not include sifting through mountain loads of paperwork a day! Resigning to her fate, she sighedand picked up another paper. It was a report on the latest mission completed by a team of Jounin, with appraising results. Tsunade sighed again, and reached for her bottle of sake.

_Ahh Sake, what would I do without you? Doing paperwork sober wouldn't work at all._ Before Tsunade could take a sip of the blissful nectar of the gods, a burst of smoke appeared in her office.

"Yo!" drawled Kakashi lazily, still engrossed in the porn novel that females everywhere scorned. "Hokage-sama" he added, after glancing up and noticing Tsunade's glare and twitching eyebrow.

"Kakashi, I take it your mission was successful?"

"Hai Hokage-sama, the target was successfully eliminated. Also I happened to bump into a white-haired pervert near the hot springs of Tanuka city.." said Kakashi, not even looking up from his Icha Icha Tactics novel. A perverted giggle escaped his lips, and he turned the page.

"White haired pervert? You don't mean yourself do you?" Tsunade asked, shooting a disapproving glare at Kakashi's one visible eye._ Damn jounin and their individual quirks._

"What are you talking about?" Tsunade deadpanned. "I caught Jiraiya-sama peeking on some women bathing and thought I'd go say hi."

"Jiraiya eh? What did the old perv have to say?" asked Tsunade. If Jiraiya was passing notes, so to speak, through someone else then he must be pretty tied up with his spy network.

"He told me to tell you that he has received intelligence that Orochimaru was sighted moving bases by one if his informers. The location of the base was discovered also. Jiraiya-sama said he would probably meet whatever team you send out there at some point." Kakashi reported, looking up from his novel, or was it the Hokage's chest area? Tsunade contemplated this information for a few moments, before coming to a decision.

"Okay Kakas-" The door to her office slammed open, and Naruto filed in along with Sakura and Yamato. Sakura twirled her hair a little, before greeting Tsunade happily.

"Ohiyo Hokage-sama!" Sakura chimed, obviously in a good mood. Kakashi smiled, before letting out a lazy 'Yo!' as a greeting. Yamato nodded towards his old sempai, while Naruto just muttered something that sounded like 'I love you Sakura-chan...', but conveniently nobody heard. Kakashi noticed Naruto and Sakura were holding hands, but chose not to comment.

"Okay, now that everybody is here, we can begin. I have just received information from Jiraiya of the whereabouts of one of Orochimaru's bases, where he is also reported to currently be residing in." Naruto perked up at the mention of Jiraiya, and Orochimaru.

"Naruto! Sakura! I order you two to investigate this along with Yamato Kakashi, and possibly Jiraiya! Your objective is to gather information and, if possible, bring back Uchiha Sasuke! Good luck to you all!" Tsunade ordered, authority ripe in her voice.

"Hai! Hokage-sama!" The four shinobi scattered. Tsunade sighed, desperately hoping she didn't just send more people to death at Orochimaru's sick hands. _Be careful, brat. You better come back alive._ She would be damned if she let her self-appointed little brother die.

* * *

**Uchiha Sasuke **sat upon a flat rock in the middle of a windy field of grass, looking a bit bored. His white open collar shirt swayed in the wind, in sync with the grass. Sasuke yawned, bored out of his mind. Where the hell was his target? What a waste of time. Orochimaru had given him a mission to assassinate some weak group of Iwa Shinobi, saying it would be a good _exercise_. Lately he had been getting rather shitty with Sasuke, most probably due to Sasuke's defiant and rude attitude. Pfft, like he cared what snake-man thought.

_**Flashback**_

_"Kukuku.. Sasuke-kun! You are developing at a most satisfying rate" Said Orochimaru, eyeing Sasuke quite hungrily. Soon you'll be mine, my beautiful Uchiha container! Kukuku.._

_"Shut up and teach me some more techniques."_

_Orochimaru froze and glared. "You insolent child. You will respect me Sasuke-kun, or I won't give you the power you so desire to defeat your brother." Sasuke "hmph'ed" and looked away. 'I'll eventually kill you anyway, Orochimaru' thought the young avenger._

_**End Flashback**_

Sasuke glared at the road, wondering when the Iwa-nin were going to arrive. He needed to continue his training if he wanted to kill his shitty brother Itachi, not sit around on rocks all day.

Suddenly a chakra signal appeared, headed his way. Sasuke looked up hopefully, before recognising it as Orochi-pedo's. Frowning, Sasuke turned to face his 'master'. _For now._

"Sasuke-kun. The target approaches." Sasuke smirked and drew his kusanagi. Game on.

A team of Iwa-nin jumped out of the underbrush, towards the middle of the field where Sasuke and Orochimaru were standing. The leader stepped up cautiously; its not everyday one meets one of the legendary Sannin. "Orochimaru-sama, The Tsuchikage sends his regards. Iwagakure accepts your offer of an alliance. Here are the relevant documents." The Iwa-jounin handed over a few scrolls, all sealed with the Tsuchikage's personal seal.

"Kukuku, excellent work. Please send my regards to the Tsuchikage."

The jounin bowed, glanced at the strange raven-haired boy's drawn blade and stiffened before turning around and motioning to his team. Sasuke raised one eyebrow at Orochimaru.

Orochimaru nodded with a sick grin. "Go, my Uchiha."

Sasuke disappeared with a burst of speed and reappeared in front of the medic-nin of the team, blade already sinking deep into the unfortunate Iwa-nin's left lung. The leader of the squad's eyes widened and he withdrew a kunai. He spun to Orochimaru and screamed.

"Treachery! Orochimaru you bas-" He was cut off as a deafening sound of a electricity cackling like a thousand birds filled the air, along with the screams of one of his companions. The jounin turned to see Sasuke kick one of his team members off the bloody arm, blood spraying in all directions. The raven haired teen's stoic glare met with the frustrated glare of the Iwa-nin's. The last two jounin gathered themselves and leapt away from the dangerous Uchiha, flinging shuriken and kunai as they landed among the long swaying grass. One kunai nicked Sasuke lightly, earning a scowl from the usually stoic boy.

Sasuke activated his sharingan, the world coming to life in high-definition. The three individual tomoe spinning slowly in the sea of red, it opened up a frightening level of sharpness that average eyesight can never hope to obtain. Every blade of grass became visible to him, every last detail of the enemy process through his eyes. The two Iwa-nin flashed through some hand seals, their movements appearing in slow motion to the young Uchiha. Sasuke leapt up as two large spikes of chakra infused rock exploded from the ground. Debris and grass scattered in all directions as Sasuke dodged the death spike by a hair's length. As one of them passed Sasuke by, he kicked off it and used the momentum to send him flying towards the Iwa-nin and out of the way of the second spike of rocky death. Sasuke landed and went through a set of handseals in a blur of movement. The Iwa squad leader recognised the seals just as Sasuke finished the set. _Oh shi-_

A spike of chakra enforced rock lunged out behind the jounin, and impaled him through the chest. The look of surprise on the jounin's face was quickly replaced by a smirk as he melted into nothing but mud. _Tsuchi __Bunshin__no Jutsu? (Earth Clone Technique?) He must've used it when he saw my blade _thought Sasuke, before his eyes registered some movement. Sasuke leapt back a few feet and blocked the Iwa-nin's kunai strike, and used the enemy's momentum against him. In a quick flash of speed, Sasuke grabbed the shinobi's wrist and launched a powerful kick to the man's chest. A satisfying _crack _could be heard as the shinobi was thrown backwards. Realizing his near death, the leader of the jounin turned and ran. Sasuke's eyes flashed, and he ran through some familiar seals for one of his favorite jutsu. A firestorm of chakra gathered in his right arm, before lightning chakra was infused. Cupping his wrist with his spare arm, Sasuke looked up menacingly at the injured Iwa-jounin. Lightning crackled around his hand as he screamed **"CHIDORI!"**

"Kukuku Sasuke-kun, looks like one of the bugs is trying to get away." said Orochimaru._ He really is excellent.. such skill.._

Sasuke's eyes moved to the retreating Iwa-leader, before infusing his leg muscles with chakra and dashing forward. The Iwa-leader barely could blink before an other worldly pain exploded from his chest, as his muscles and tendons were torn apart. A hole in one's lung tends to do that to you. He was dead before he could let out a scream. Sasuke pulled his arm out of the jounin's chest, and looked towards the last remaining enemy. His sharingan registered a large dragon screaming towards him, and he barely had enough time to move. Sasuke appeared to be blasted away, but conveniently poofed into a log.

"**Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu! (****Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!****)" **A large ball of burning hot flames came blasting towards the unsuspecting Iwa-nin, roasting him alive.

The smell of sizzling human flesh filled the field.

* * *

Four figures flew through the forest, leaping from tree to tree. They said little, concentrating on the task in front of them. Naruto was lost in thought, although the dream was already swept from his mind. _Sasuke.._ that one name came up in his mind. That one name alone, bought up powerful emotions that he didn't expect to feel. Feelings of betrayal, of sadness coursed through him, tightening his chest. Naruto looked ahead at Kakashi, wondering if things would've gone differently if sensei had made it there on time…

"Naruto? Are you alright?" asked a voice to his right. Sakura sped up a little, concern in her eyes for her friend. Naruto isn't usually this quiet.

"Of course Sakura-chan! Just thinking about how I'm going to kick Sasuke-teme's ass and drag him back to Konoha! Haha!" grinned Naruto, his mask already in place. Sakura couldn't help but smile in admiration. _Naruto is always so confident, so full of life._

"Hell yeah! Sasuke-kun is definitely coming back this time! Even if we have to drag him back!" Sakura said, a determined smile lighting up her face. Her light green orbs filled with hope. There was nothing more that Sakura wanted than to be with her Sasuke-kun… right?

Yamato perked an ear up and smiled. _Looks like the teamwork has improved between those two, _he mused. Kakashi took no notice of this, not surprisingly still reading his book while tree hopping at neck-breaking speed. Yamato sweat dropped at this.

"Kakashi-sensei, what are we going to do once we reach Orochimaru's base?" asked Naruto, already imagining how he was going to _rasengan_ some sound bastards, including that traitor Kabuto. Naruto frowned at the thought of Kabuto. _He helped us during the chuunin exams… then turned around and tried to kill me. Bastard._

Silver hair and one eye turned to Naruto. "Our goal is to scout for information and possibly bring back Sasuke if the opportunity arises. This means no unnecessary fights should occur, and by no means are we to engage Orochimaru if Sasuke is no where in sight." How Kakashi manage to talk and tree hop without looking up made everybody sweat drop.

"**If we run into Orochimaru, I'm not going to hold back! That bastard.." **growled Naruto, his voice uncharacteristically dark. He would bring Sasuke back, or kill him. He would save him from Orochimaru, at any cost. All three of the Shinobi looked at Naruto in alarm. Kakashi could've sworn Naruto's eyes flashed red for a second..

Before Kakashi could bring anything up, his head snapped back and he motioned everybody to stop with his hand. Sniffing the air, he could smell blood and burnt flesh. Ahead was a battlefield. "Caution, somebody was fighting up ahead. We'll scout the area to gather information."

Naruto and Sakura nodded, and the squad slowly crept forwards. Leaping down from the trees, they made their way to a field of grass. The scene that reached their eyes was bloody.

Four men lay in front of them, slaughtered. A few were bleeding profusely, while a charred corpse lay not too far away from them. Sakura solemnly nodded in acknowledgement, while Naruto looked on stony faced. A tingle of excitement crawled up his spine.

"Inspect the corpses." ordered Yamato, who seemed to be unaffected by the scene. Being in ANBU does that to a person; death becomes a part of everyday life. Yamato killed on a daily basis, it would do no good if death affected him.

"They're from Iwa. Still fresh. This one.." Kakashi inspected one of the corpses, with a gaping hole in his chest. _This wound.. Chidori… it must be Sasuke. What are Iwa Shinobi doing here? It could mean trouble if they were meeting with Oto.._

"Sasuke was here." said Kakashi, his visible eye turning into an upside down U. "The wounds are still fresh. Means he was here recently. Plus the area smells like snake." Both Naruto and Sakura's heads snapped up. _SASUKE! _That one thought raced through their heads, and their resolve tightened. "He shouldn't be too far ahead. We should also try to find out what Iwa shinobi were doing this far into Oto territory."

'**Kit. I want a bite of that snake.' **mused Kyuubi, in the back of Naruto's mind.

"_Orochimaru will die. One way or another. Now go away, damned fox."_ Kyuubi quietened down for once, surprising Naruto. Shoving the thought to the back of his mind, he refocused his determination. This would be it. This is what he had trained for three years for with that perverted old man he had for a sensei. Gritting his teeth, Naruto glanced at Sakura. The two held each other's gaze for a few seconds, the unspoken promise not to fail understood by both.

The squad of Konoha Shinobi set off once again for their destination. A figure melted out of the ground, intently watching the group with barely concealed interest. The walking Venus-flytrap Shinobi smiled viciously, barely concealing his excitement. Half his face was white, the other half black. A black cloak decorated with red clouds surrounded his body.

"**Interesting eh? We get to see the Kyuubi container in action again."**_"Inform Itachi and Kisame"_ came the voice of the other half of his mask.

"**Looks like there's going to be an inevitable showdown between the fox and the snake eh?"**


End file.
